Making Space for Renewal: Lunar New Year, the Year of the Horse, and Our Mental Well-Being
Lunar New Year reminds us to clean our homes…What if we also made space emotionally?
Written by Terri Yeh
The Lunar New Year invites reflection, intention, and new beginnings. As we welcome the Year of the Horse, many of us are considering not only physical renewal, but also mental health and renewal in our daily lives.
Amid work, family responsibilities, and constant motion, this season offers a meaningful pause. It creates space to reflect on emotional well-being and the support that helps us move forward with strength and balance.
Renewal as a Path to Mental Health and Renewal
Lunar New Year is a meaningful time for many Asian families. Houses are tidied, old belongings cleared away, and red festive decorations adorn the space.
Meals are prepared with intention, each dish symbolizing health, luck, and abundance. Even in busy households, there’s often a shared understanding that this season is about renewal.
Growing up in a multigenerational household as a Chinese American born and raised in the U.S., I always felt the Lunar New Year was like a reset button. Life didn’t suddenly become easier, but there was a sense that we were allowed to start anew.
To let go of what had felt heavy, and to move forward with hope. This quiet but powerful belief still resonates. This year celebrates the Year of the Horse, which, in Chinese tradition, represents energy, perseverance, independence, and progress.
The Horse is capable and resilient, often pushing forward with determination. Yet even the strongest Horse needs rest, guidance, and care to keep going. That balance between endurance and gentleness is something many of us can relate to, especially within our communities.
Many Traditions, Shared Meaning
Lunar New Year is celebrated across many cultures, each with its own customs and values:
Chinese families gather to celebrate Spring Festival (春节, Chūnjié) reunion dinners, exchange red envelopes, and pay respects to ancestors.
Vietnamese families celebrate Tết, inviting luck, honoring elders, and welcoming renewal.
Korean families observe Seollal with ancestral rituals, deep bows, and shared meals.
Filipino families mark Media Noche, a midnight feast meant to invite prosperity in the new year ahead.
Tibetan communities welcome Losar, emphasizing purification, reflection, and spiritual renewal.
Different traditions. Different foods. Different languages. Yet a shared intention, to release what feels heavy and invite in what supports life, balance, and harmony.
When “New Beginnings” Feel Heavy
Within our communities, many families are constantly in motion. School schedules, extracurriculars, long workdays, caregiving, and commuting often leave little time to pause. From the outside, things may appear stable or successful, but internally, many of us may feel exhausted, anxious, or overwhelmed.
Lunar New Year can bring hope, but it can also bring pressure. Pressure to do better. To do more. To finally feel “caught up.” Caring for our mental health offers a different approach to renewal. It’s not about fixing what’s damaged.
It’s about caring for yourself and developing tools that can bring relief and balance for your overall health.
Why Emotional Renewal Supports Mental Health And Renewal
Emotional renewal is more than a symbolic fresh start. Ongoing stress, burnout, and anxiety can quietly accumulate when there is little space to process them. Intentional pauses for reflection and restoration help regulate the nervous system and support long-term emotional balance.
Research from the American Psychological Association explains that chronic stress affects both mental and physical health, especially when recovery time is limited.
When renewal becomes a consistent practice rather than a once-a-year hope, it strengthens resilience and supports mental health and renewal in sustainable, meaningful ways.
Therapy as Emotional Spring Cleaning
In many Asian households, cleaning before the new year sweeps away stagnant energy and invites positive new beginnings. Likewise, therapy can offer emotional renewal. This is a space to gently notice what you’ve been carrying—such as expectations, stress, guilt, and unspoken feelings.
It also invites you to consider what still benefits you and what you may be ready to set down. Therapy does not ask you to abandon your culture or traditions; rather, it compassionately promotes understanding of yourself within them.
Renewal doesn’t require dramatic change. Even small shifts can move us forward, one steady step at a time.
An Invitation to Care for Yourself
Whether you’re navigating stress, relationship challenges, life transitions, or simply feeling worn down, working with a counselor can help lighten the load. Therapy can be part of your renewal as an individual, a couple, or a family, meeting you where you are.
Take a step toward renewal. Learn how therapy supports your well-being, schedule a free consultation by calling or clicking below.
As we welcome the new year, I wish you and those you cherish health, balance, and moments of rest along the way.
Gung hay fat choy!
Xīn nián kuài lè!
Reflection
Take a moment to pause and journal or contemplate as you near the start of the new year:
What am I ready to leave behind from the past year?
What kind of energy or support would I like more of in the year ahead?
About the Author
Terri Yeh is a Professional Clinical Counseling Trainee, supervised by Katie Dennis, LMFT, Clinical Director at Sycamore Grove. She is passionate about inspiring curiosity with compassion, fostering mental resilience, and promoting healthy interpersonal dynamics, helping to navigate life’s challenges and improve overall well-being, especially for women, teens, and girls.
Outside of work, Terri enjoys sampling new foods, having coffee chats with both new and familiar friends, taking brisk walks with her husband and their lively mini-labradoodle, and keeping up with her college-aged children’s busy lives.
Sycamore Grove is dedicated to supporting the mental well-being of Asian Americans through compassionate and understanding care.
References
Kim, A. (2025). Unveiling Asia's unique Lunar New Year celebrations: Traditions and customs. Travel and Leisure. https://www.travelandleisure.com/holiday-travel/lunar-new-year-celebrations
National Geographic Society. (2026). Lunar New Year. https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/lunar-new-year/
National Museum of Asian Art. (n.d.). Lunar New Year. Smithsonian. https://asia.si.edu/whats-on/events/celebrations/lunar-new-year-celebration/
Song, S. (2026). Year of the Horse: Fortune, personality, horoscope (2026). Chinese New Year. https://chinesenewyear.net/zodiac/horse/
Timothy S. Y. Lam Museum of Anthropology (n.d.) Chinese New Year traditions. Wake Forest University. https://lammuseum.wfu.edu/education/teachers/chinese-new-year/chinese-new-year-traditions/
